


The King of Gotham: An Evening With Bruce Wayne

by hapakitsune



Category: Batman (Comics), Batman - All Media Types, DCU, DCU (Comics), Superman (Comics), Superman - All Media Types
Genre: Gen, Interviews, News Media, intrepid reporter clark kent, jewish clark kent
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-31
Updated: 2016-10-31
Packaged: 2018-08-28 02:07:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,429
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8426755
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hapakitsune/pseuds/hapakitsune
Summary: The evening of the benefit in support of the new Thomas and Martha Wayne Rehabilitation House, Daily Planet reporter Clark Kent spoke with billionaire Bruce Wayne about love, family, and his parents' legacy. Log in to dailyplanet.com to read the full profile.





	

**Author's Note:**

> My favorite thing about superheroes is when they're forced to interact in their everyday personas and act normally. My second favorite thing is intrepid reporter Clark Kent. My third favorite thing is superheroes subtly trolling each other. 
> 
> I basically rewrote DCU with this, which I think is fine given that it's comics and nothing is fixed. Thanks to formerlydf for clearing up typos. All other mistakes are thoroughly my own.

**KING OF GOTHAM: AN EVENING WITH BRUCE WAYNE**  
_The Sunday Planet_

BRUCE WAYNE is running late. Though many words can be used to describe him—famous, handsome, wealthy—punctual is not one of them. His assistant assures me once again that Mr. Wayne is on his way—just a few more minutes.

As if summoned, Bruce Wayne chooses that moment to make his entrance. The front doors to Enterprises open and in strides the forty-two-year-old company owner and socialite. He’s wearing a bespoke silk-blend Zegna suit in a vibrant shade of teal and a butter yellow pocket square. In one hand is a prototype phone—not Apple, he notes later, as “I hate to follow trends”—and in the other is a briefcase he hands off to his assistant. It takes him almost a full minute to realize that I’m there.

“Hey,” he says, flashing the thousand-dollar smile that has won him the coveted title of _Tattler_ ’s Sexiest Man Alive three years running. “Hope I haven’t kept you waiting.”

**THE ORPHANED PRINCE**

THE STORY OF BRUCE WAYNE has been told a hundred different times in a hundred different ways. Everyone knows the tale well by now: at the age of eleven, Bruce Wayne was out at the movies with his parents Thomas and Martha Wayne when they were mugged by Joe Chill, a petty criminal with ties to the Falcone Crime family. Thomas and Martha were killed, and young Bruce was left an orphan.

Even if you haven’t seen the half-dozen documentaries or the _Lifetime_ movie (starring a young Keri Russell and Eric McCormack as Martha and Thomas), you’ve seen one of the many movies and television shows that drew from the murders as inspiration. The case was headline news all across the country, and the manhunt for Joe Chill that culminated in a televised car chase was seen by more than sixty million people. 

Unsurprisingly, Wayne doesn’t like talking about his parents’ murder. Over the years he’s steadfastly refused to give interviews about it, has given no comment on the movies or documentaries, and recently refused to give his approval of the upcoming Gus Van Sant movie following Joe Chill in the twenty-four hours leading up to the murders. When the subject is broached, all he says is, “I loved my parents very much. They were good people.”

Wayne attended Yale University at age sixteen and acquired his Bachelor’s and MBA in a six year accelerated program. After graduation, he traveled the world, a period of time he jokingly refers to as his “gap year.” Wayne doesn’t speak much of his time abroad, though the hints he has dropped over the years include hiking the Himalayas, sailing in Micronesia, and following the Silk Road.

He returned to Gotham at twenty-five when his family’s company and fortune came under his stewardship. Since then he has been a permanent fixture of tabloid covers and the social circuit. Party planners often say that they know an event is going to be a success if Bruce Wayne accepts the invitation. He’s had a wildly diverse mix of partners, including socialite Marla Drake, model Jon Kortajarena, Tony Award-nominated actor Jonathan Groff, and _Gotham Globe_ reporter Vicki Vale. 

But despite his reputation and public image, you’d be hard-pressed to find many people who profess to know Wayne well. He rarely speaks with the press aside from soundbites at public events. He has given very few interviews over the years, choosing to leave that duty to the people who run his company or his PR representative, the much put-upon Sasha Bordeaux.

When I venture to ask why he agreed to this profile, Wayne looks surprised. “Why not?” he asks, which sums up his life philosophy perfectly.

**THE KING OF GOTHAM**

WE TAKE HIS FAMOUS SILVER PORSCHE down to Wayne Manor, where Wayne is hosting a party to celebrate the opening of the Thomas and Martha Wayne Rehabilitation House, an initiative spearheaded by Wayne and District Attorney Harvey Dent. On the way, Wayne talks passionately about his car, the Beyoncé concert he attended (and was photographed extensively at) last week, and what led him to create what he and Dent hope will soon become an alternative to Arkham Asylum. 

In 2011, the _Gotham Globe_ revealed the shocking state of the famed psychiatric hospital, including abuse by doctors and unsafe living conditions. Dr. Jonathan Crane, the Asylum administrator, was fired, and a government inquiry was launched to investigate the treatment of the mentally ill. Despite the amount of public outcry for a better psychiatric care system, it still took five years for Wayne and Dent to gather city support and funds.

The initiative is a surprising move from Wayne, who has largely steered clear of politics since he assumed responsibility of the Wayne empire. When asked why he decided to join with Dent on this project, he says, “My parents dedicated their lives to improving the living conditions in Gotham.” He goes on to note that while crime is down, there is a high rate of reoffenders and that the current treatment of the mentally ill often causes more harm than good.

If this sounds strangely erudite for the man once called “America’s Most Vapid Bachelor” by Jon Stewart, it’s because he’s done an excellent job of building that reputation for himself. High speed car races, excessively photographed boating trips, and a seemingly endless parade of romantic partners have led many to think of Wayne as the classic spoiled trust fund prince, born not just with a silver spoon in his mouth but a diamond encrusted fork too. It seems that Wayne is happy to let people believe this. But if you dig beneath the surface of Wayne’s public persona, more complicated picture emerges. 

When we arrive at the manor, we’re greeted by Dent, who embraces Wayne as an old friend. The two have known each other for many years, having briefly rubbed elbows at Yale, and Wayne is a longtime supporter of the famous prosecutor. Dent’s wife Gilda kisses Wayne on the cheek and compliments him on his suit. 

“You haven’t even seen the lining,” Wayne says, and he opens his jacket to reveal paisley silk stitched along the interior.

The benefit is a lavish affair, but Dent notes that all the proceeds are going towards the new rehabilitation facility. In attendance are all of Gotham’s elite, as well as many of its civil servants. Among them are Lucius Fox, the CEO and president of Wayne Enterprises; Police Commissioner Jim Gordon and his daughter Barbara, a prominent scholar of forensic psychology; Marla Drake; and pharmaceutical CEO John Daggett. Even Lex Luthor has made the ferry trip from Metropolis. 

“It’s always good to check out the place you might end up one day,” Luthor quips when asked about his interest in the new facility.

**THE BELOVED SON**

IN THE YEARS FOLLOWING HIS PARENTS’ DEATHS, Wayne was raised by Alfred Pennyworth, then only a young man himself. The Pennyworths have long been in the service of the Waynes, a curiously antiquated relationship that is reminiscent more of Edwardian England than twenty-first century Gotham. Fittingly, Pennyworth, a trim man in his sixties, has a thin, old-fashioned mustache and an upper-crust English accent to match. 

Pennyworth is less than twenty years older than Wayne, but it’s clear that he sees his employer as a son. He talks proudly of Wayne’s charitable efforts and readily shares embarrassing childhood stories, which Wayne forbids me to repeat. (All I’ll say is that you wouldn’t want to challenge Wayne to a snowball fight.) Though he has no official title, he is sometimes referred to as a butler, other times as a valet. Pennyworth himself says prefers the term steward. 

“In the old days, when people owned land and grand houses—rather like Wayne Manor, it has to be said—the lord of the house would appoint a man to oversee the staff and manage the estate,” he said. “Think of it in terms of Wayne Enterprises. Master Bruce sits on the board of directors and owns a majority stake, but Lucius Fox is the one who does the day-to-day running of the company.”

The Wayne Manor staff is much smaller than it once was, consisting of Pennyworth, a cleaning staff that comes by once a week, and a chef that visits three times a month. Pennyworth is a jack of all trades, often serving as chauffeur, babysitter, confidante, and caretaker to Wayne and his children. Wayne himself handles the more personal duties of parenthood, namely cooking. 

“He’s become much better in recent years,” Pennyworth says in the kind of backhanded compliment I soon realize is his main mode of speaking. 

For events such as this benefit that are hosted at the Manor, Pennyworth is given free rein to organize and arrange the party as he sees fit. He could have a second career as an event planner given all the practice he’s had over the years, and it’s a testament to the close relationship between the two men that he’s entrusted with such responsibility. 

Pennyworth has a loyalty to his employer that prevents him from sharing many intimate details, but he isn’t shy of offering criticism. “He has one of the finest minds in the city, maybe in the world,” he says. “And he does a lot of good work in Gotham, but he’s wasted here. He could be doing so much more.”

As the party gets underway, Pennyworth disappears into the kitchen to supervise the hired staff, bidding me farewell with a polite smile and a wave. On the stage set up at the far end of the ballroom, Wayne is giving a speech, calling Harvey Dent “the only trustworthy lawyer you’ll ever meet,” and introducing Dr. Joan Leland, a renowned mental health expert, as the newly appointed head of the rehabilitation facility. Wayne seems in his element on his home turf with an audience at his feet, his manner free and easy. He hops off the stage to let Dr. Leland speak and returns to me. 

“What are you doing without a drink?” he asks me in mock outrage. “That won’t do.” He signals a passing waitress and takes two glasses of champagne. “To the dying world of newspaper journalism.” 

He drinks the whole glass in one long gulp and grins. “Come on,” he says. “Let me introduce you to my kids.”

**THE FAMILY MAN**

THE WAYNE CHILDREN ARE OFTEN FORGOTTEN in the narrative of Bruce Wayne, and for good reason. Wayne has worked hard to keep them out of the media spotlight, striving to give them as close to a normal childhood as he is able. All three of them are in attendance tonight, grouped in a corner with family friends Kate Kane and her wife Maggie Sawyer. 

Dick Grayson, the eldest of Wayne’s children, rises to greet us. He’s a handsome man in his late twenties, with dark hair and blue eyes, and resembles his adoptive father so much that tabloids used to run weekly articles speculating that he was the result of a youthful indiscretion—claims which have been emphatically refuted by Wayne’s lawyers.

In actuality, Grayson is the son of two Cirque du Soleil performers and was a talented gymnast as a child. When he was twelve, his parents died onstage in what was initially thought to be an accident, but was later proved to be sabotage in an insurance fraud scheme. Grayson came to Wayne’s attention when he was placed in a group home that Wayne sponsors. Something about the young orphan struck a chord with him. Vicki Vale, Wayne’s girlfriend at the time, speculates that Grayson’s age and the circumstances of his parents’ death reminded Wayne of himself. 

“Bruce was lucky because he had a guardian,” Vale says. “He didn’t get put into the foster care system with all the uncertainty that comes with it. But he’s very aware of the difficulties orphans, particularly older orphans, face when it comes to adoption. I think that’s why he’s taken in those kids. He sees something of himself in them.”

After a brief home trial, Wayne became Grayson’s full-time guardian and eventually adopted him, with Grayson’s consent, three years later. For Grayson, the whole experience was like a fairytale. 

“I was so [expletive] up,” he says. “I was in a dark place, and then it was like those stories about someone suddenly discovering they’re royalty. My entire life changed.” Thanks to Wayne, Grayson speaks five languages fluently, is conversational in another four, has invested wisely enough to buy an apartment in an obscenely priced market, and has traveled to all seven continents. “I loved my parents—I miss them every day—but I wouldn’t be the person I am today without Bruce.”

After attending college in Bludhaven, Grayson returned to Gotham where he joined the police and quickly rose up through the ranks. He is now a detective in the homicide department and was instrumental in the arrest of serial murderer Victor Zsasz last year. Grayson is boisterous, cheerful, with his father’s easy social skills and good looks. Only fifteen years younger than his adoptive father, the two share a close relationship more brotherly than filial, and it’s Grayson who offers the most insight into Wayne’s private persona. 

According to Grayson, Wayne is a thoughtful, articulate man. “Which isn’t to say he isn’t completely ridiculous,” he adds. “He likes to make a statement. He knows that his behavior gets reactions and I think part of him enjoys that.”

Grayson remembers one particular occasion when they were on a trip to Metropolis and Wayne wanted to see a popular exhibit at the Metropolitan Museum of Fine Art. “We got there and the place was totally rammed, line out the door, et cetera. So Bruce calls them and has them keep the exhibit open just for us after closing. He gives all the employees who stay a huge tip—I probably shouldn’t say how much—and walks around with me and my siblings and tells us about the history of every single painting in the exhibit. By the end, we’ve got the staff trailing along asking questions, and then he took us all out for dinner.”

This, Grayson says, is typical of Wayne. He is aware of his status and wealth and isn’t afraid to use it to his advantage—but at the same time, he is cautious of abusing his power. “I think anyone who’s grown up in Gotham knows how quickly it can become habit to abuse those with less resources,” Grayson says diplomatically, avoiding mentioning the name of former mayor Hamilton Hill who was arrested on corruption charges just a few years ago. “Bruce’s parents worked hard to make Gotham a better place. Bruce tries to do that too, in his own way.”

Tim Drake and Cassandra Cain, both still in their teens, agree with their brother’s assessment.

“Bruce does what he can in the system that is available to him,” Drake says. When I suggest that he could go into politics, Tim rolls his eyes. “I’ve said that,” he says. “Bruce says that wouldn’t be nearly as fun.”

Drake is a dry, witty young man, with a genius-level intellect. When the Gotham Preparatory classes proved too easy, Wayne began sending him for classes at Gotham Junior College as well. Drake hopes to be a researcher someday, hopefully in medicine. 

“There’s so much we don’t know about the human body,” Drake says. “It’s the true final frontier. Forget space. We have Superman for that.”

Drake first came to Wayne’s attention when he won a Wayne Enterprises-sponsored science fair in the seventh grade. A few years later, Drake’s parents were killed in a home invasion. When word spread about the young man’s tragic circumstances, Wayne reached out—and found a kindred spirit. 

“Half the time they have conversations I can’t even keep up with,” Grayson admits. “They’re both insanely curious people. And don’t even get me started on taking them anywhere. Tim’s got the broody teenager thing down, and Bruce is—Bruce. Hardly anyone pays attention to me when they’re around.”

Industry experts suspect that Drake will soon be tapped to work in Wayne Enterprises’ R&D department. Nepotism is an ugly word, but even Lex Luthor, one of Wayne’s fiercest critics and competitors, admits that Drake deserves it. 

“If I thought Bruce would let me get away with it,” Luthor says, “I’d snatch him away myself.”

And then there’s Cassandra Cain, the youngest and most recently adopted of Wayne’s children. She is a petite young woman who watches everything with a careful eye, but rarely engages with strangers. I greet her in sign language, which draws a smile from her, and she signs back with, _Hello_.

One of the little known facts about the Wayne family: Cain is functionally mute. Though she is not deaf, she communicates in sign language, which her brothers, Wayne, and Pennyworth all learned when she came to live with them four years ago. Drake interprets for us after I admit that my sign is limited to the basics. 

Cain has a rare form of aphasia resulting from childhood trauma, causing her to be unable to comprehend or formulate words. For years she struggled to get by in a world where she couldn’t process speech or writing. Wayne was the first person to attempt teaching her sign, and learning it began to help her with her verbal comprehension. Though she still has a great deal of difficulty speaking, she is able to understand most spoken language and is slowly learning to read. 

But for Cain, the real gift is finally being able to express herself. 

“Before Bruce, people assumed that I couldn’t understand what was going on around me, and I was treated like I had no will of my own,” she says through Drake. “He figured out how to get through to me and once I could talk, I could tell people who I really am.”

Cain attends a school for the deaf and hard of hearing where she is able to interact with other teenagers who express themselves through body language and sign. The social interaction has made a world of difference to the young woman.

“The first time I met Cassandra, I was driving with Bruce,” Kate Kane says. “We were on our way to some party—who knows what—and there was this girl out in the road. I shouted, so Bruce hit the brakes, and we both got out to see her. I think she was only eleven or twelve at the time. It just broke my heart.”

Cain says that her home life before Wayne was miserable. “So you can understand why I was suspicious at first,” she says. “My parents aren’t good people, and they didn’t make an effort to understand me. But Bruce, and Kate and Dick and Tim, they all tried, and after a while I started to trust that they genuinely cared about me.”

Next to me, Wayne bushes his children’s compliments aside. “They’re just saying nice things because I pay their rent,” he says. But when I look closer, I can see that he’s smiling.

**THE HEAVY CROWN**

THE PARTY WINDS DOWN CLOSE TO MIDNIGHT. The Wayne children have left, either for home or for their own beds in another wing of the manor. Pennyworth supervises the party clean-up as Wayne says farewell to the police commissioner and the mayor, laughing uproariously with them over some joke. Despite the hour, Wayne shows no signs of tiredness. Indeed, as our interview goes into the early hours of the morning, he grows even more animated, like some kind of nocturnal creature. 

Once the last of the guests have said their goodbyes, we adjourn to the library, a well-kept room where Wayne does his business. He expresses a deep dislike of studies, saying he finds them too enclosed. “You can keep a desk in a library just as well,” he says, “and it’s far more beautiful besides.”

The library is one of the oldest parts of the mansion and was once the ballroom. Fittingly, the floor is set with inlaid wood, and windows along the easterly facing wall stretch from floor to ceiling. The bookshelves are set with tinted glass to prevent fading. 

“There used to be curtains along the windows,” Wayne says, “and when I was young, they were always closed. I much prefer it like this.”

I’m sure that the view is even more stunning in the daylight, but even at night, the library offers an unparalleled vision of Gotham. Wayne Manor sits on a large hill outside of the city proper, and from our vantage, we can see the sparkling lights of the city below. The Bat-signal is clearly visible, as is the W on Wayne Tower. 

Wayne seems more relaxed now that the party is over, sprawling out over one of the leather couches and inviting me to join him. He has unbuttoned his shirt and taken off his suit coat, looking far more casual than he ever appears in public. With a drink in hand, he invites me to ask him questions.

What, I ask, does he hope that the new rehabilitation center will accomplish?

“Over the past couple of decades, it’s become abundantly clear that we don’t have the resources to help the mentally ill,” he says. “Many of them are driven to homelessness, others to crime. What I want is to create a place where people will truly find help rather than being shut away like chipped china.”

He admits that he himself sees a therapist, though irregularly these days. “When my parents died, I saw a therapist every week,” he says. “At the time I thought it was stupid, and once I was old enough to put my foot down, I stopped going.”

What made him start going back?

“My kids,” he says. “Becoming a father made me realize that not talking about my worries and concerns wasn’t healthy. All this—” He waves around as if to encompass the party, the mansion, his whole life style. “All of this is my way of coping with the world. And a damn fun one. But when you’re a parent, you can’t let your own issues affect your kids. That’s just not fair on them.”

What about romantic partners?

“None at the moment,” he says with a wink. He has taken off his shoes now; his socks are the same shade of yellow as his pocket square. “I’d be happy to take applications.”

Ever considered getting married?

Here he grows serious. “Once,” he says. “It didn’t work out.” He’s quiet for a long moment, clearly lost in thought. Eventually, he says, “My lifestyle doesn’t offer a lot of room for romance. I’ve been fortunate that a lot of my past relationships were based on mutual affection rather than the desire for a picket-fence life. Most people I date understand that I’m not one to bring home. It takes a specific kind of person to understand and appreciate that I have obligations outside of them.” He makes a face. “I sound like a total asshole.”

I remark that I’ve heard nothing but good things from his past partners, and Wayne lightens up. “I do pay them to say that,” he says. “Good thing to know my money’s doing me some good.” He laughs at my startled glance. “It’s a joke, Clark.”

As the night goes on, clock ticking closer to dawn, Wayne opens up about the sense of duty he feels towards his parents’ memory. Though it’s been more than thirty years since their deaths, he says he still thinks about them every day. 

“I realized recently that I’m older than either of them ever were.” Wayne sounds melancholy as he reflects on this. “I wonder, often, what could they have accomplished if they hadn’t died? In the short time they were able to effect change, they successfully lobbied for tighter gun control, better city-provided assistance to the elderly. They left me behind a legacy, but no guidebook. So I try, every day, to make them proud, and I don’t know if they would be.”

He admits that he knows the scope of his parents’ ambitions, as well as his own, are limited. “I won’t ever know why they decided to focus their efforts locally rather than going larger—statewide, or national. They certainly would have had the influence. But perhaps it’s because they understood how hard it is to get things moving nationally.

“So maybe it was pragmatism. Or maybe they were limited in their vision. I don’t know. All I can do is try to live up to who they were.” 

I offer that in Judaism, we believe to save one life is to save an entire world and that maybe his parents focused on the specific and the tangible because they knew how to fight those battles. 

“I like that idea,” Wayne says. “Maybe that’s what they knew, my parents. That the world’s problems can’t be solved by brute force, but by steady erosion.”

To this end, Wayne has been working quietly behind the scenes of Gotham to reinvigorate the city, whose late 90’s transformation was interrupted by the dot com crash. A look into the initiatives Wayne Enterprises funds reveals a few dozen scholarships, several tutoring centers, numerous children’s homes, and halfway houses dedicated to helping the homeless and recently released criminals. Wayne puts his name on none of these, a curious move that he explains is fueled by caution.

“There are times when the Wayne name is important,” he says. “There are other times it serves more as a distraction. There are some things—like this rehabilitation facility—that need my family name to legitimize them and to get them the funds and money they need.” He shakes his head and says, “This is getting too serious. Do you play pool? I bet I can take you.”

The interview is over; Wayne has said his piece. But as we head up to the game room for a late night game of pool, he offers this one last nugget of gold: 

“There’s no one solution to a problem,” he says. “I do things the way I do because I have a certain set of skills. I know it might not seem that way from the outside, but I am a firm believer that Gotham can be healed. It’s what my parents believed; I have to believe it too.”

_Clark Kent is an investigative journalist for the_ Daily Planet. _Additional reporting by Jimmy Olsen and Lois Lane._


End file.
